


Gone

by TheMockingJ3



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Because the Jalina tag is drier than the desert of Monte d’Or, Except it’s longer and gayer, F/F, Grief, Layton is a good dad to his students, Melina’s goodbye scene from Janice’s perspective, Uploaded from my old account
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25422226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMockingJ3/pseuds/TheMockingJ3
Summary: Gone. She was gone forever, as was a part of me I could never reclaim.
Relationships: Hershel Layton & Janice Quatlane, Janice Quatlane & Oswald Whistler, Janice Quatlane/Melina Whistler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: For Eternal Diva with some implications for Layton’s character  
> Set: During Eternal Diva  
> Warnings: Canon character death and grief!   
> Note: I’m sorry for the reupload but the Janice/Melina tag is drier than the desert of Monte d’Or.  
> ...Actually, I’m not that sorry at all.

Tears sparkled in her eyes like stars against the night sky when she wished me farewell. Some of the tears spilled down her face as she said that it was time to return to my own life— a life without her. 

I didn't want that. I didn't want to listen to her suggesting such a thing.

But it's hard to ignore the voice inside your own head.

I recalled a memory— any memory as long as I could escape hearing her forlorn words.

_Last year, when she returned from the hospital and told me that her illness was terminal; I'd rubbed my thumb across her tear-streaked cheek and she'd thrown her arms around me. She'd sobbed that she was going to die— never growing old, never starting a family, never sharing her music with the world_...

Suddenly, I realized this was exactly what she hoped I would do. I was  tuning her out  as if she didn't even exist. 

Panicked, I tore myself from the memory. It wasn't too late— she was still here, but she had turned away from me. 

She had regained control for a moment longer to say goodbye to my father... no,  her father, Luke and Professor Layton.

In turn, each of them uttered her name:

"Melina!"

"Melina..."

"Melina."

Time was short. I needed to fill my thoughts with nothing but Melina. If I was able to do that, I could prevent her from leaving yet!

_I am Melina Whistler_ ,  I insisted, making myself believe it. I had to know her better than I knew myself. 

Every inch of her personality: Romantic, brave, selfless...

More visions flooded in:  _Melina singing a solo at choir practice in high school, Melina twirling joyously around her teenage bedroom, Melina strolling past a row of shops, Melina chasing after her pet poodle, Melina visiting me at Gressenheller, Melina drinking tea at the Rainy Day Cafe, Melina dragging me to a fairground, Melina standing on the balcony with her hair swaying in the breeze, Melina playing the piano as she attempted to complete her composition._..

Try as I might, the terrible proof that she was fading dawned on me— I now had free thought. 

"I'm so glad that all of you were my very last memory." Her last words left my lips. 

Then, once again, the two of us we were standing above the verdant cliff overlooking the glistening sea. This time, however, I was on the opposite side to her, as if a mirror image had been flipped edgeways. 

She turned to me with a faint smile and began to walk away. I couldn't bring myself to look at her, though. I was rooted to the spot, unable to reach out and never let her go...

My eyes—  _my_ eyes— flew open and I gasped. I blinked as if I had just awoken from a deep sleep. My body felt foreign to me after a year disuse. 

My mind was an empty room; there was too much space now. Within my chest, I felt a stab of loneliness. A fragment of my soul had just been ripped away.

" _Melina...!_ " My breath hitched.

Gone. She was gone forever, as was a part of me that I could never reclaim.

Had these stray tears belonged to her or were they my own now?

I forced my feet to move forward. (Was walking always this difficult?) 

Mr Whistler looked up at me as I passed. 

He let out a moan, too lost in his own grief to spare me any empathy. 

_Why should he?_ He’d never loved me, even when I was with Melina. I was just a caregiver and a happy distraction until the end came. Now, I was nothing more than a shell of the daughter he had lost. 

I felt so lost. I stopped in front of the professor. 

“Professor...” My voice shook. “Melina has left us...”

_I_ had to lose her for a second time. The only person who understood must wish that I had died in her place. 

“Is there no way to get her back?” I asked as the professor approached me. I shut my eyes, waiting for him to answer.

_ No . I’m sorry, but there’s nothing to be done. She’s gone.  _

The professor didn’t provide an answer. He simply put his hand on my shoulder. It was a small comfort and a confirmation. 

_ I understand.  _

When I opened my eyes, I saw him in a new light; the nights he spent in his office, his need to help others, his loneliness... 

He wasn’t alone, though. 

“Now listen to me, Janice! Melina  _ hasn’t _ gone!”

“Luke...?” I sighed. He was trying to help, but how much could a little boy know about loss? (Melina was always better with kids...) 

“If you remember her, she will always be here!” Luke insisted. “That  _ is _ what she said to us! That  _ is _ right, isn’t it, Professor?”

“Yes,” the professor agreed, with a sad smile. 

They were right. Melina was right. 

“Remember her...” I gazed up at the clouds. I imagined Melina beaming down at us with her hair waving in the breeze. “...For always.”


End file.
